Online judging of images employs the artistic equivalent of the Roman Emperor giving the thumbs up or thumbs down to a Gladiator. We are accepted or rejected. Yes or No. Accept or Reject. Right or Wrong. There is no middle ground, no “Well it was really good except for…,” or “ that could be improved if the next time you were in that situation you could…” helpful critiques that could be great help to the photographer.
The critique is a binary system and not a helpful method for the evaluation of images.
Relying on this style of feedback on photographic image and style your creativity is stifled in two ways. First, you do not know the level of photographic knowledge and competence of the people rating your work. They could be completely misguided and ignorant of the precepts of good photography. In the worst case, you could be getting reviews from people who cannot tell you what a good image looks like. Secondly, chasing those “thumbs up ratings” to achieve “success,” the temptation is to photograph to meet popular expectations. When crowd pleasing is the measure of success, the temptation is to play to that audience and not explore more creative approaches to your images.
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